As I’ve said before, my current setup is a large Big Green Egg.  Now I do most of my cooking low & slow but if you cook on a ceramic cooker, then you know that one of things that you can do with this type of cooker is super-high temp searing for steaks and the like.  However, one of the dangers in doing this is the potential to melt the felt gasket that creates the seal between the upper and lower half of the BGE.

There are other scenarios that cause the gasket to tear or otherwise need replacement.  This can happen when the lids feezes shut or becomes fused together as the egg cools off.  In any event, you invariably learn about this condition immediately before your next cook.  Imagine opening the lid to prepare Christmas Eve dinner and tearing your gasket off half way around the lid.  That’s exactly what happend to my brother and fellow Big Green Egg owner last week.

Undaunted, he tried to line it up as best he could and soldier on with a couple of 7+ lb. briskets.  He called me in a panic that he couldn’t keep the temp below 275°.  The egg was leaking so badly at the tear, that it was acting as a vent and drawing more air through the cooker and keeping the temps up.  We agreed that all he could do was keep the vents closed as much as possible to try to maintain the desired temp and hope for the best.

A shot of the BGE with gasket removedWell, I’m happy to report that his Christmas Eve dinner was a succes.  And, the next day he purchased a new gasket and replaced the old one in ~10 minutes.  Replacement is pretty easy, but here are a couple of tips:

• Remove old gasket completely
• Use a putty knife or something similar to remove all the residual glue & gasket bits.
• The new gasket comes as one long piece, so you’ll need to dry fit it and cut each half to length.  Measure twice, cut once.
• Close the lid and let the adhesive cure.
• Avoid high temp cooks for the first several cooks after gasket replacement.

Additionally, here are a couple of tips to help avoid the issue altogether.

• Keep the gasket clear of excess BBQ sauce, etc. as much as possible
• If there’s a threat of freezing temps, put parchment or wax paper between the top & bottom halves of the egg.  This will help keep them freezing shut.

Hope you didn’t have any near misses for your holiday cook!

Cheers,
Braddog

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